Iemisch
an Patagonia |Reported=1879 |Researchers=• Florentino Ameghino • Bernard Heuvelmans • Roy P. Mackal • Austin Whittall }} The iemisch (Tehuelche: "water tiger" ) is a cryptid reported from Patagonia, described as an aggressive aquatic animal. It has been speculated to be some sort of giant otter; its connection with true, long-fanged water tigers such as the more northern yaquaru is unclear and confused. Its involvement in the saga of the Patagonian ground sloth, beginning when Florentino Ameghino dubiously suggested that it was a living ground sloth, has also caused much confusion. Description The iemisch is described as being roughly puma-sized, with short, coarse, brown hair, a circle of light hair around the eyes extending to the earhole, and large canines. It has three webbed toes on the forefeet and four webbed toes on the hind feet, and a long, otter-like tail. André Tournouer wrote that the animal he saw had no external ears. The Ameghino brothers described it as being nocturnal and mainly water-dwelling, and feared for dragging animals such as horses, and even human beings, into rivers to be killed. Sightings Undated A Tehuelche Indian named Hompen told Carlos Ameghino that: Writing later regarding another sighting made by European settlers, Florentino Ameghino wrote that: circa 1840's From Carlos Ameghino: 1870 British explorer George Chaworth Musters, who explored Patagonia in 1870, heard stories of a "water tiger" from the Mapuche. He also saw two South American ostrich carcasses floating in shallow water in the Senguer River, where the Hompen sighting also occurred. After discounting pumas, jaguars, and maned wolves, he recalled the yaguarú, an animal described in the 18th Century by Thomas Falkner.Musters, George Chaworth (1871) At Home with the Patagonians 1900 French naturalist André Tournouer saw a similar creature during a 1900 expedition to Patagonia. He saw a round-headed, earless animal about the size of a puma emerge in the middle of a stream, and shot at it to no effect. He later discovered some feline-like tracks. Tournouer's native guide called the animal "Hymché".Tournouer, André (1901) Sur le Néomylodon et l’animal mystérieux déla Patagonie 2013 or 2014 In 2014, a man contacted Austin Whittall describing an alleged iemisch sighting he had made around the Puerto Natales area. He wrote that he and his wife: Theories Florentino Ameghino suggested that the iemisch was a relict Mylodon or some other ground sloth, and connected it with his own Patagonian ground sloth. This claim has not been taken seriously, as ground sloths (excepting Thalassocnus ''and ''Ahytherium) were neither aquatic nor predatory. Esteban Erize suggested that it may be an aquatic reptile with the head of a fox, and George Eberhart suggested an unknown species of giant otter or confused or exaggerated accounts of regular otters. Palaeontologist George Gaylord Simpson wrote that stories of the iemisch, "if not invented to amuse the stupid white men, were simply myths with no foundation in reality".Simpson, George Gaylord (1934) Attending Marvels: A Patagonian Journal Santiago Roth associated it with an extinct jaguar, the remains of which were found in the Cueva del Milodon, which he named Iesmisch lista in honour of Ramón Lista, who had allegedly seen the ground sloth which Ameghino connected with stories of the iemisch. Francisco Moreno suggested it may be a giant rodent similar to a capybara or the extinct Megamys, and Austin Whittall notes that the hutia, a closely related rodent, does somewhat resemble an otter, and a larger version could be dangerous if its young were threatened. Whittall also wrote that an out-of-place spectacled bear could explain the 1900 Tournouer sighting.Whittall, Austin Bears in Patagonia | Patagonian Monsters patagoniamonsters.blogspot.com 2018 Both Bernard Heuvelmans and Roy P. Mackal believed the iemisch may have been a new species of giant otter; Mackal wrote that "its range is restricted and may still be shrinking". For the 2014 sighting, Austin Whittall suggested identities of an otter, an American mink, a water rat, and a cupia. Similar cryptids Do you think the exists? If so, what do you think the is? Myth, folklore, hoax, or otherwise made-up Undiscovered giant otter Giant sloth Unknown felid Unknown rodent *Water tigers, semi-aquatic sabre-toothed cat like cryptids reported from much of South America. Notes and references Category:Cryptids Category:South America Category:Argentina Category:Chile Category:Paraguay Category:River monsters Category:Lake monsters Category:Felids Category:Theory: Lazarus taxon - Ground sloth Category:Theory: Lazarus taxon - Other Category:Theory: New otter species Category:Theory: Mistaken identity Category:Theory: Hoax